The United States Golf Association and R&A jointly announced that the rules governing how golf balls are tested will change starting on Jan. 1, 2028. It’s how the governing bodies intend to stop the trends of golfers hitting the ball farther and golf courses getting longer.
The announcement came after years of debate, study and communications between the USGA and R&A with stakeholders like golf equipment manufacturers, the PGA Tour, the PGA of America and other prominent groups in the golf world.
Initially, the USGA and R&A proposed the creation of a Model Local Rule that would have resulted in only elite men being required to use distance-reducing balls. But under the new rules, everyone is going to transition into the balls tested in a new, distance-reducing way.
Here are my takeaways from the USGA and R&A’s decision:
The PGA Tour and PGA of America's decisions were massive
For the USGA and R&A’s proposed Model Local Rule on golf ball testing to work, the game’s governing bodies needed assurances from the biggest stakeholders that they would support it.
The USGA and R&A planned to adopt it in their championships like the U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur, the British Open and the U.S. Women’s Open and in April, Augusta National Golf Club’s chairman, Fred Ridley, said, “We have been consistent in our support of the governing bodies and we re-state our desire to see distance addressed,” hinting that the Masters would be on board too.
But then, in July, Jay Monahan sent a memo to the membership of the PGA Tour that struck a blow to the proposal, stating, “Following a discussion on the topic at a recent PAC meeting, we have notified the USGA and the R&A that while the PGA Tour is committed to collaborating with them – and all industry partners – to arrive at a solution that will best serve our players, our fans and the game at all levels, we are not able to support the MLR as proposed.”
Two weeks later, in a memo to PGA of America membership of the PGA of America, the organization’s CEO, Seth Waugh, wrote, “For the whole industry to buy into any changes, we feel it is very important that everyone agrees with one set of data to be used to establish the basis of dramatic change. Also, to be abundantly clear as regards to the current proposal, after much thought and conversation, we arrived at full agreement as a group that we firmly oppose bifurcation for the following reasons.”
Had the PGA Tour and the PGA of America supported the proposed Model Local Rule, it would might have been created and adopted in week-to-week PGA Tour events and all four men’s major championships. Creating the Model Local Rule and utilizing it in only three of the four majors, and no PGA Tour events, Ryder Cups or Presidents Cups, would have created chaos, and the USGA and R&A did not want to create chaos.
The USGA and R&A boxed themselves into a no-win situation
On several occasions since the Distance Insights Report was released in 2020, officials from the USGA and the R&A said that distance is a problem in the game and that the trend of longer-hitting players pushing golf courses to get bigger was unsustainable. Mike Whan, the current CEO of the USGA, his predecessor, Mike Davis, and the CEO of the R&A, Martin Slumbers, have all said that doing nothing is not an option.
But in the same breathe, all three have said that they don’t want to make a change that could negatively impact the growth of the game at the recreational level, where, according to the USGA and R&A’s own data, the average male player hits the ball 216 yards off the tee, and the average female player hits it 148 yards.
“The number one piece of feedback we’ve heard, from virtually all aspects of the game is, ‘Please don’t negatively impact the recreational golf,'” Whan said in a press conference last March announcing the proposed Model Local Rule that could mandate players to use reduced-distance golf balls. It was seen as a solution to shorten the pro game without doing anything to weekend players, but that plan was met with resistance.
While the USGA and the R&A pointed to several other Model Local Rules already in existence, creating a world where Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas are not allowed to use the same ball that you and your friends play in your Thursday night league was seen as two sets of rules.
In an interview with Golf Digest’s John Huggan, Slumbers said, “The game was not happy with the Model Local Rule. There was a view that it would create a bifurcated game at the elite level. It was a very strong pushback against that. The PGA Tour was very public about it. So was the PGA of America. A number of players spoke out. And our job is to listen.”
So, like the Bowl Championship Committee trying to decide which teams to include in this year’s college football playoff, no answer could make everyone happy. With doing nothing being off the table, the USGA and R&A’s hands were forced and they had to make a rule change that will force everyone to hit reduced-distance balls starting in 2028.
The USGA and R&A have a perception problem
After the USGA and the R&A made their announcement last Wednesday, Mike Whan appeared on The Golf Channel to talk about why, according to the game’s governing bodies, the ball testing changes are necessary. He also explained that the distance reduction that most recreational golfers see will be minimal, likely 5 yards or less for the average male player off the tee.
Some golf lovers think the USGA and the R&A took too long to make this change and some didn’t go far enough to reduce the effects of distance, but on my social media feed, most commentators came out against the changes and voiced displeasure at the idea of losing distance.
Here is a sample of what was sent to me:
- “Very helpful for senior golfers, thanks USGA!” – @morandifrancesco5219
- “They have got it all wrong! Make the setup of golf courses tighter, such that ‘bomb & gouge’ is not a viable option for players. Bring ‘skill’ back to the game” – @ianglover940
- “This is very demoralizing for those of us that struggle with distance.” – @bodacious2276
- “I am stocking up. Will have enough balls to last me 10 years past 2028.” – @golfman6779
Remember, the USGA and R&A are claiming that the average recreational golfer will see a very limited reduction in driver distance and many female and senior players may not see a distance reduction at all. Based on my social media feeds, that message is not getting through to the majority of golfers and that will be a problem for the game’s governing bodies.
Women's golf is a casualty
There is no distance problem in women’s golf, either at the elite level or the recreational level, and Mike Whan and Martin Slumbers have said that.
“I think, at this point, there isn’t a distance challenge in the women’s game,” Slumbers said in March. “You’re certainly seeing changes in the women’s game where more power, longer distances are coming in than maybe even five years ago, but at the moment, there’s plenty of headroom on the golf courses that we have for the women’s game. So we would not be intending to make any application of this rule in women’s elite golf at this point.”
Yet with the announcement of the new testing procedures changes, women from your local course to the LPGA, where the average driving distance this season is 254 yards, will be forced to use distance-reducing golf balls starting in 2028. According to the USGA, LPGA golfers can expect to lose only 8 to 10 yards off the tee, but the point is there was not a distance problem in women’s golf.
Like their male counterparts, golf’s elite women will work to increase their clubhead speed, fine-tune their equipment and work on their technique to hit the reduced-distance ball as far as possible. The committees and groups that set up LPGA courses may also decide to shorten courses to compensate for distance-reducing golf balls.
As a result of wanting to reign in distance on elite men and maintain one set of rules, women’s golf has to change and that doesn’t seem fair.
Prices are going up
A dozen Titleist Pro V1 balls cost about $54. A dozen Callaway Chrome Soft, TaylorMade TP5, Srixon Z-Star or Bridgestone Tour B balls will run you about $45, but none of today’s premium golf balls are going to pass the new testing protocols. Unless something unanticipated happens, equipment makers are now going to develop, manufacture and sell balls that meet today’s testing standards while simultaneously developing balls that will pass the testing standards that go into places starting in 2028. And during the summer and fall of 2027, demand is going to skyrocket.
Research and development budgets will rise, more testing will be required, and at some point, new molds, materials and factory tools will be required. Millions of dollars are going to be spent by each brand to develop balls that will pass the USGA and R&A’s updated testing standards, while demand for the older, faster balls will undoubtedly surge as the switch date gets closer.
The cost of doing the extra R&D work, running the additional tests and developing the new balls will be passed on to consumers, with the final result being a ball that does not perform as well as today’s ball.
Or, put another way, over the next few years, golfers will pay extra money while inferior balls are created.
